Improvement in electro-magnetic apparatus for protecting safes



PATENTED NOV. 15, 1870.

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ELECTROMAGNETIC APPARATUS FOR rnowscwme SAPES.

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HOWELL, OF LEBANON, NEW HAMP- SHIRE.

Letters Patent No. 109,193, dated November 15, 1870.

IMPROVEMENT IN ELECTRO-MAGNETIC APPARATUS FOR PROTECTLNG SAFES.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the same.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, WILLIAM Duncan and Orr,- VIN G. ROWELL, of Lebanon, in the county of Grafi ton and State of New Hampshire, have jointly invented an Improvement in Protecting Safes; andwe do hereby declare thatjlre following, taken in connection with the drawing which accompanies and forms part of this specification, is a description of our invention suliicient to enable those skilled in the art to practice it.

Our invention relates to an improved method of protecting safes from burglarious dopredations, for which an application for Letters Patent has been filed by \VIILLIAM DUNCAN, one of the parties to thisapplicatiou, said method consisting in so combining or connecting the safe with an electric circuit, (composed of a battery and a magnetic coil and armature) that the mailing of the door or the perforation of any one of the walls of the safe, or of a surrounding closet or case, breaks the circuit; and gives an alarm, the armature of the magnetic cell being connected to an alarm appa- -ratus, so that the retraction of the armature by its spring, when released from the magnet, operates an alarm.

Our in ention consists in combining with the safe or safe-inclosing closet, and an electric circuit and alarm apparatus, a cable or compound circuit-wires, and a series of magnetic coils and armatures, so arranged that the breaking of the circuit of any one of the coils will set the alarm in operation, our object being, by means of this assemblage of wires in the cable, to prevent-the circuit from being completed outside of the safe, so that it would remain closed, and thus prevent the operation of the alarm, even it'the sate were broken into and opened.

The safe shown at A in the drawing is inclosed within an outer safe or closet, the cable or circuitwires being directly connected with the inclosing-c-asc.

At 13 the cable is shown as applied directly to or as directly connected with the door of the safe.

In the first iew, which shows the inclosiug-case in horizontal section, the dotted lines a denote the outer boundary of the safe.

b denotes the case or closet which surrounds or inplates, g 7:, having chamber i, the space i communicating with the space 0 by means of a flexible pipe, I.

From an electric battery, 11:, two wires pass through a plate or spring, 0, and the other with one wire, 12, of a main circuit, which, passing out through the plate, extends to and connects with a magnetic coil, the second wire, q, of the circuit being connected inside the plate 0 with another plate or spring, 0', which, by an intervening spring or finger, s, makes'connection with the spring 0 and completes the circuit, the finger s and plate 0 touching at t, and the,finger s and plate 2' touching at it, this being the position which the parts assume when the safe is inclosed and the door of the inclosing-case is shut, and the air is exhausted or partially exhausted from the air-chambers.

From the finger s a pin, r, projects toward the face eiau expanding and collapsible disk, w, in the inner wall-plate c, and, when the air is drawn from the main air-chamber, this disk collapses and assumes the position seen in the drawing, concaving from the inside of the case. In this position the end of the pin is close to it, and if, by the operations of any person attempting tocifect an entrance to the safe, a break or perforation is made at any point either through either of the outer wall-plates or through the outer door-plate, the in-rush of air will expand the disk,causing it to press inward against the pin, and push the end of the linger s away from the end of the plate 1', thus breaking the circuit. Such break of the circuit of course releases the armature, which, being drawn back by its spring, is made to trip the alarm mechanism and give an alarm.

The air-exhaust tube may lea-d from the door-chamher or from any part of the wall-chamber, and these chambers may be disconnected and each have an exhaust-tube.

To provide for breaking the circuit by opening the door, the adjacent or outer ends of the two springs or fingers o s are held in contact (when the door is closed) by an insulated knob or projection, rt, which, when the the other, and thus closes the circuit, the releaseof the pressure of the knob upon the fingers, which is effected by opening the door, causing the fingers to separate and break the circuit.

As with but two main circuit-wiresit would be quite easy for a skilled burglar to complete the circuit outside the safe, so that it would remain closed notwithstanding the circuit-platels or fingers inside the safe might be separated, we form the connection between the safe and the armature mechanism by compound or cable circuit-wires and an assemblage of magnetic coils, there being to each coil and armature two cirthe walls or plates 0 (i, one otthcrn, n, connecting with door is closed, presses'the end of one finger against cult-wires, the several pairs of wires and their respective coils and armatures making an equal number of complete circuits, all of which will be broken by the spring, and the movement of any one or more of the armature-levers tipping a lever, h which is connected to an alarm apparatus, and by its movement releases the alarm and sets it operation.

A side elevation of this armature mechanism is seen at O.

In the modification shown at B, inwhieh only the door of the safe is shown as protected, the air-chamber t" of the door has a collapsible disk,'j, from which an insulated pin, k, projects, the end-of this pin having a metal connector, 1 that normally (or when the door is closed and the air-chamber is exhausted) unites two wires m 11?, the opposite ends of which bear against two plates, 0 1), that unite with the batterywires q W, and with the main circuit-wires s*, leading to the magnetic coil or coils with which the alarm apparatus is connected.

Air being exhausted from the chamber a? when the door is closed the wires on n are united by the metal connector 1 and the ends of the wires touch the respective plates 0 If a break or hole he made through the outer plate of the door, the disk j will expand or fly outward, pushing the metal connector away from the wires, bringing *.the insulated pin between them, and thus breaking the circuit and giving the alarm,

In like manner, if the door he opened, the circuit will be thereby broken, because the ends of the wires on m will be thrown away from the plates 0 p. 7

The magnetic coils and alarm apparatus may be 10- eated in any convenient position, the circuit-wires being properly conducted thereto.

In conclusion, we would state that we do not claim, broadly, the safe or safe-inclosing closet or case so constructed and connected with an electric circuit and alarm that a break or perforation through the plates of the safe, or the opening of the door of the safe or case will break the circuit and operate the alarm. This feature is the sole'invention of WILLIAM DUN- CAN, one of the parties heret0,and has been made by him the subject of a separate application for Letters Patent; but

What we claim as our joint invention is as follows;

In combination with a safe and an electric circuit and an alarm apparatus, the compound circuit-wires or cable, and series of magnetic coils and armatnres, arranged to operate substantially as described.

I WILLIAM DUNCAN. Witnesses: CALVIN G. ROWELL.

" E. J. DuaAu'r, Y, E. DURANT. 

